To say the Stanford women’s basketball team is going to have a new look next season is putting it mildly. The Cardinal had already lost star forward Cameron Brink to the WNBA and sharpshooter Hannah Jump to graduation, not to mention Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer, who announced her retirement this month after nearly four decades on the bench. Saturday night, junior forward Kiki Iriafen, the team’s leading scorer from this past season, told ESPN that she is transferring to USC. Iriafen will join a roster that includes superstar Juju Watkins and a recruiting class that will feature two ..read more

Stanford students who set up a pro-Palestinian protest encampment in White Plaza remained there overnight, despite warnings from university administrators on Friday that they could face suspension or even arrest. Student activists set up the encampment on Thursday, following a march attended by hundreds of students. Protesters are demanding Stanford divest from companies and other entities supporting Israel’s military action in Gaza, and that it issue a statement condemning Israel and calling for a ceasefire. So far, Stanford administrators have not said whether the university’s endowment is i ..read more

Stanford students who set up a pro-Palestinian protest encampment in White Plaza remained there overnight, despite warnings from university administrators on Friday that they could face suspension or even arrest. Student activists set up the encampment on Thursday, following a march attended by hundreds of students. Protesters are demanding Stanford divest from companies and other entities supporting Israel’s military action in Gaza, and that it issue a statement condemning Israel and calling for a ceasefire. So far, Stanford administrators have not said whether the university’s endowment is i ..read more

STANFORD – When Stanford opened last season at Hawai’i, traveling a day earlier than usual to adjust to the time change and the long flight, little did it know that it would be good preparation for the years to follow. Starting this season, Stanford will replace annual trips to the Pacific Northwest and Southern California with cross-country flights as it begins a new era in the ACC. The Cardinal will play four games in the Eastern time zone in 2024, including visits to Syracuse, Clemson and N.C. State and a previously scheduled game at Notre Dame. “It’s going to be fun,” junior cornerback Col ..read more

“How expensive?” tracks measurements of California’s totally unaffordable housing market. The pain: Twenty U.S. cities with the highest home-price-to-income ratios are all in California. The source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed a housing affordability yardstick by Construction Coverage, which tracked median home prices divided by the median annual household income for 384 cities including 79 from California. The pinch If going 20 for 20 at the top of this “unaffordability” ranking wasn’t painful enough, look at California’s share of this city-by-city scorecard this way … 93% of the 30 cost ..read more

U.S. health officials are closely monitoring the recent leap of avian flu from birds to cattle — and earlier this month, to a Texas dairy farmer. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stresses the current public health risk is low — the virus isn’t known to spread among people or through the food supply, is rarely caught from exposure to infected animals, and where human infections have occurred, is often mild and manageable. But the leap of the H5N1 influenza strain, widespread among wild fowl and a regular threat to domestic poultry, into cattle was unexpected, and a worrisome devel ..read more

In California, rattlesnakes bite about 800 people in a typical year; approximately two are fatal in a year. The threat usually begins in April and will decrease by September. Rattlesnakes are not confined to rural areas. They have been found near urban areas, rivers, lakes and golf courses. Rattlesnakes do not always rattle before striking defensively. Related Articles Environment | Bird flu’s disturbing new turn Environment | Northern California dog owners warned by state wildlife officials to keep their canines away from raw fish Environment | Giving a hoot: How to protect owls in your b ..read more

Our instant assessment of the first round of the NFL Draft … Winner: Pac-12. The first round of the last draft for the conference (as we know it) more than met the moment. The Pac-12 produced the No. 1 overall pick, USC quarterback Caleb Williams, and six of the first 15 selections. When the round ended four hours later, the conference had claimed eight of the 32 selections, one shy of its record (set in 2015). Loser: Big 12. In its final draft with Texas and Oklahoma as members, the Big 12 managed to produce just three Day One picks — all courtesy of Texas and Oklahoma. That said, the Big Ten ..read more

The tie in the Congressional District 16 race has been broken yet again as more preliminary results for the ongoing recount pour in — Assemblymember Evan Low is now up one vote over Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian. Since April 15, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties have been recounting the more than 182,000 votes cast in the March primary race to replace U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo. San Mateo County wrapped up its counting on Wednesday afternoon with no vote changes for either Low or Simitian, though a number of ballots that were challenged are still being adjudicated. Some of those challe ..read more

The current state of young people’s mental health is dire. Amidst their staggering rates of anxiety, depression and deaths from suicide and drug overdoses, the U.S. surgeon general declared a youth mental health crisis in 2021 and identified an epidemic of loneliness in 2023, with young people among those at highest risk. Why is this happening? From our perspectives as a scholar of education and as a parent, one key source of the problem is the profound shift in our public schools — from their origins in the early 19th century as community institutions serving the public good to their tra ..read more